Will Sushma Swaraj swoop down to London and bring back Nirav Modi, asks Chidambaramhttps://indianexpress.com/article/india/nirav-modi-in-london-video-mea-narendra-modi-government-uk-extradition-congress-chidambaram-5618248/

Will Sushma Swaraj swoop down to London and bring back Nirav Modi, asks Chidambaram

Taking to the micro-blogging site, the Congress leader said, "When Lalit Modi stayed on in the UK, I wrote to the UK Chancellor that he should be sent back to India. Mrs Sushma Swaraj mocked me for writing letters."

Hours after a video emerged showing Nirav Modi walking in the streets of London, former union minister and Congress leader P Chidambaram on Saturday took potshots at External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj and asked if she would “swoop down” and bring back the fugitive businessman, a key accused in the Rs 13,500 crore PNB scam, to India.

Congress also slammed the government and accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of running a “fraudster settlement yojana” for such fugitives. The opposition party alleged that fugitives had looted Rs 1 lakh crore from Indian banks but not even one of them had been caught in five years of the Modi government.

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Addressing the media in the national capital, Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala said, “Fugitive Nirav Modi has been seen enjoying in London, living in a Rs 75 crore flat and wearing a 10,000 pound jacket.”

“First loot Rs 23,000 crore from banks, then run away from the country without any checks, mock the CBI and the ED and then make a comfortable home in a Rs 75 crore flat. (Narendra) Modi is there, so it is possible,” he added.

Another party spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said it is another instance in which the Modi government has proved that “their slogan ‘Modi hai toh mumkin hai’ (It’s possible if there is Modi) is apt for fraudsters.

“How in 2014, PM Modi had promised the return of Rs 80 lakh crore of black money to India and Rs 15 lakh back in the accounts of every Indian but instead he has ensured Rs 1 lakh crore honest taxpayers’ deposits are now being freely used by these fraudsters to lead a luxurious guilt free life in foreign shores,” she said.

Hitting back at the grand old party hours later, the BJP said Nirav Modi began his fraud in 2011 when the UPA dispensation was in power and that the Modi government had detected and exposed it.

“Many of these who cheated India during the UPA government have been brought back and are in custody. Others will follow. They are living the life of fugitives and refugees,” the BJP tweeted, terming the allegations of the opposition party a case of “pot calling the kettle black”.

In the micro-blogging site, the BJP asserted that no one who cheats India can get away under the Modi government.
“Nirav Modi’s fraud to cheat the banks started in 2011 when UPA government was in power. It was detected and exposed during the Modi government. The offender was declared a fugitive, his assets seized, illegal house blown up and businesses closed,” the party said.